No Regrets
by kc41319
Summary: Ok so I kinda suck at summaries, I'm a complete newbie! Just what i would have liked to see at the start of season 3!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys, this is my first ever fanfic, so i cant guarantee it will be as amazing as the stories ive been reading here for the last while but reviews and opinions are greatly appreciated! Its also un beta'd so could be a bit dicey!**

**Takes place at the start of season 3.**

_**DISCLAIMER: I dont own Castle or any of the cast, as much as i want to :)**_

Kate sat in the cab and looked at her cell again. Still no call. Why hadn't he called? _Stop it Kate he clearly doesn't care about what happened. Stupid writer boy and his stupid ex wife. _As she approached her apartment she spotted a shadow sitting at her door. _could it be? _She got out of the car and approached her door only to see that it was Rick sitting there waiting for her. While he was in The Hamptons finishing Naked Heat, she and Rick had kept in touch, almost falling back into their comfort zone with each other only by phone and email instead of in person. They kept each other up until all hours of the morning talking about everything but the big elephant in the room, Gina. Kate did not want to know the details but she knew once Gina turned up at the precinct that her chance with Rick was gone. But as she looked at him standing at her door at 2 a.m in the morning she wondered whether the old Rick was back, _her Rick._"Hi Kate" Rick said with a bright smile. He had missed her over those few weeks, even though they stayed in touch he missed her smile. While he was away, she occupied his thoughts every day, and it was as he was leaving for The Hamptons that Rick came to realise that she had become more important to him than any woman ever had, Alexis and his mother aside of course. Rick decided he had enough drama with Gina and did not want it with Kate. He needed to be honest and tell her everything, but first he needed to tell her something she needed to hear. His only problem? It was 2 in the morning and Kate was not a morning person, at least not without her coffee.

"Hey Castle, your the last person i expected to see, won't Gina have a mental breakdown if she finds out you're here?" Kate replied trying to ignore the stirring inside as he smiled at her. _Damn smile, why does he always do that?_

"Funny Kate but no she wont, and if she did it wouldn't matter. I'd still be here" he said with an unreadable expression on his face. _Why does she have to bring Gina up every time I want to talk to her? Stubborn woman__._

"Whoa Castle you sound awfully serious, for a second there you almost sounded as if you were over her!" Kate dared to hope despite her teasing tone. When Rick didn't reply she took that as her answer and opened her door. When she turned to say goodnight to Castle she faced the bluest eyes she had ever seen, and for a brief moment she thought she saw a hint of regret. _Focus Beckett! You are too tired to keep this witty banter up without saying something you'll regret...CLOSE THE DOOR!_

"Well I should really get some sleep, you know im not a morning person Castle" as she playfully smiled at him. She was just about to say goodnight when Rick abruptly stood up tall, almost as if he were gathering up courage to do something.

"Kate are you going to Mayor's benefit tomorrow?" He had the unmistakeable look of hope in his eyes, one she couldn't help but drown in. She hadn't planned on going but between the look in his eyes and the memory of the last time they danced together, she couldn't help but change her mind.

"Um I guess so, a night out with New York's rich and famous sounds like a good distraction, and hey we might even get a body" she said trying not to sound as happy as she did, after all Gina was going, Castle had mentioned to Esposito on the phone in one of their weekly conversations over the past month.

"Can't you take one night off work Kate?" he asked knowing well what she was going to say, but he did not expect her to reply.

"Well i suppose it wouldn't hurt to enjoy myself, but only if your going, I can't be left alone with people who call me Nikki it will kill me!" she said with a dramatic smile, while Rick stood there stunned at her honest response. Kate Beckett never relied on anyone, but maybe, just maybe, the summer had changed her.

"Great, i'll meet you there so, say 9 pm?" Rick asked, looking like a child on Christmas morning.

"Perfect, now you better go home Castle before I start to get snappy from my lack of sleep"

"Nothing different to usual so" he retorted with a smirk.

"Watch it Castle or I'll leave you all alone with Esposito for the night!"

"You wouldn't!" he said smiling, shocked that Kate would even threaten such a thing, but then again this _was _Kate, his Kate. _Or at least she will be after tomorrow night_.

"Ok, until tomorrow Detective" he said as he walked to his car, unaware of the dreamy smile he had left on her face at his last comment.

"Night Castle, i'll be dreaming of you" she whispered back, not knowing a goofy grinned Castle was sitting in his truck thanking god for his good hearing.

_"Tomorrow night will definitely be interesting! This is my chance to make up for the summer, I won't lose her, I can't. Gina is my past, and nothing will stop me from my future with Kate " _he said with a determined voice as he drove off. If he learned anything over the past few years, it was that love, even the strongest kind of love, can be taken away in an instant, how many inconsolable spouses had he watched Beckett break the news to? And he wasn't going to sit by and watch his life pass him. A future that undoubtedly featured Kate Beckett. He arrived home and went to bed, dreaming of Kate and how she had something he hoped she would never give back, his heart. This was it, no regrets.

_"Why am i so nervous? Its a stupid ball, an excuse for people to show off their money and get drunk. Well I don't mind the latter. This is my chance to show Rick what he's missing, I am NOT going to lose him to her, not again" _she thought as she got ready for bed. If these past few weeks had done anything to her, It was confirm her feelings for Rick. She was going to forget about Demming, as nice a guy as he was, he wasn't Castle. She wanted her "one and done" It was him, she was sure of it and she was not going to sit by and watch Gina take him away, he was _hers_ and tomorrow night she would make sure of it. So she fell asleep, dreaming of a certain immature writer boy who had the one thing she never thought she would give away again. Her heart. This was it, no regrets.


	2. Chapter 2

When Kate woke up the next morning she out her plan into action. She called Lanie and filled her in on what had to be done, which took a little longer than expected as she struggled to get a word in with all of Lanie's "its about time" comments. After that she had to go collect her dress from the dry cleaners, the red one she wore to the last benefit as she remembered the look on Rick's face when he saw it. Tonight there would be no holding back, the Beckett determination was in full mode and nothing was going to stop her. At the same time, Rick was over at the loft, finishing the final touches to Naked Heat. He didn't have to worry about what to wear, there were only so many tuxes he could look at. He spent the rest of the day sorting out the loft, finishing the dedication and finding the right aftershave to wear. Men had it easy. When he was done he stood in front of the mirror, mentally psyching himself up for what could be the most important night of his life so far. _Cmon Rick, you've had nearly 3 months to think about this. _And then it hit him. He doesn't need to think about anything, its Kate, and when it came to Kate thinking went out the window when his feeling took over.

Kate entered the Hotel with Lanie and made their way to the main ballroom. The Mayor had clearly gone all out with the decorations. _Perfect, _Kate thought as she scanned the room for the only person she wanted to see that night but instead she was greeted with a sight that made her stomach ache. Gina. Looking over at the petite blonde she noticed how every man in the room watched her as she spoke to Alexis. The younger Castle spotted her and beamed which made Kate's heart melt. She then gave her the "save me" look so Kate approached the two, unable to stop herself from entering the conversation."Alexis, Gina, great turn out isn't it?" she said in a voice too sweet to be hers. Alexis knew she was up to something but found it too amusing to stop it.

"Kate! Its great to see you, I know we didn't get to talk at the precinct that day, how are you?" Gina asked, knowing all too well why Kate was, and noticing the look on Kate' face when the precinct was mentioned she knew she'd hit a nerve. Alexis took this as her cue to leave, excusing herself to go find her grandmother.

"So Gina what has you back in New York, the Hamptons not good enough? Are you staying for long?" Kate asked, cutting the bull and getting straight to the point. Out of the corner of her eye Gina could see Rick enter with his mom, so she decided to lay everything out on the table.

"Well Kate I wanted to talk to Rick tonight, I've decided to take him back" she gushed.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked with a hint of annoyance. "You were the one who left him!" Gina was looking at Rick with misty eyes, she genuinely thought she could just say the word and he would open his arms to her again. Unfortunately for her, Kate Beckett had something to say about it.

"Look Gina, frankly I don't like you. You've messed with Rick's heart too much as this is where it stops. I won't let you do this to him again." Kate stood tall, almost as a challenge for Gina to try stop her. But Gina rose to the challenge and retorted "What makes you think you can stop me? Rick and I are good together and he knows that, and nobody, especially some plain jane cop is going to stop that, I LOVE Rick and I know he loves me so why don't you go home Kate because you're wasting your time."

Kate was ready to pounce on her when she felt a hand on her shoulder."Rick!" Gina exclaimed as she went to give him a had zoned in on their conversation as soon as he stepped in the door. He was raging over Gina's attitude to Kate but he knew she could handle herself. Before he knew it Kate was in combat position so he decided to intervene before Gina got what she deserved."Hi Gina, Kate" he nodded to Kate as Gina went to hug him, a hug a barely gave back. Kate stood there as if her world had frozen.

This was it, he would choose one of them right now and she had a nasty feeling it was that blonde bimbo she wanted to hit so much. And the she heard those dreaded words. "So Rick aren't you going to dance with me?" Gina asked with that sugary sweet smile of hers. _I wouldn't mind punching a few of those teeth out_ Kate thought with a smirk.

"Actually Gina I came over to ask Kate to dance. Kate, would you do me the honour?" Rick asked as he held out his hand to Kate. She stood there stunned, had he actually picked her? Gina looked as if she were about to object when Rick held up his hand. "I'm sorry Gina but I would like to dance with Kate, maybe another time okay?". She barely responded as he took Kate's hand and pulled her to the dancefloor.

It was like everything she ever dreamed of. Soft music played in the background, but all she could hear was his heartbeat. There was no conversation anymore as they drowned in each other. She looked breathtaking in the long red dress he remembered from the last ball. He remembered how she took his breath away that evening too. But she was in _his _arms now and it felt right, they just fit perfectly. She felt like she was dreaming again, she looked at him and how his eyes only saw hers, and she liked it. She could see Gina seething in the corner but she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was standing there in Rick's arms and nothing had ever felt better.

She remembered the precinct and how they were so close before her world fell apart, and she swore that wouldn't happen again. She looked into his baby blues and her mind went blank, her body took over. She brought one hand from around his neck to cup his head as she lifted her head to his. He clearly had the same though because his hands tightened around her waste and his eyes bore into hers. Before their lips met she heard him whisper "its always been you Kate" and suddenly she let out a cry as their lips melted together. It was the softest kiss either had ever shared, there were months of abandoned feelings poured into this one moment, almost as if they were apologising for waiting so long.

Eventually they lifted their heads to see Martha dancing beside them with the Captain, both wearing megawatt smiles. Rick laughed heartily and Kate just rested her head against his chest and giggled, Kate Beckett _giggled!_ Rick felt complete. Almost. He had one thing left to do and then he would be a free man, or at least he hoped. Kate had so much to say to Rick but didn't want to ruin the moment. She lifted her head to meet his and softly asked "you wanna get some fresh air?". He nodded and took her hand, leading her onto the balcony. _This is it. _He thought. _No regrets. _Kate followed him outside, ready to our her heart out. _This is it. _She thought. _No regrets_


End file.
